diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index dede49ee8..e933572ad 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 Manifest-Version: 1.0
 Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
-Bundle-Name: %pluginName
+Bundle-Name: Xtext IDE Core
 Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.xtext.ide;singleton:=true
 Bundle-Version: 2.11.0.qualifier
-Bundle-Localization: plugin
 Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.8
 Bundle-ActivationPolicy: lazy
-Bundle-Vendor: %providerName
+Bundle-Vendor: Eclipse Xtext
 Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.xtext;visibility:=reexport,
  org.eclipse.xtend.lib,
  org.eclipse.core.runtime;bundle-version="3.6.0",
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/build.gradle b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f1715647
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+dependencies {
+	compile project(':org.eclipse.xtext')
+	compile "io.typefox.lsapi:io.typefox.lsapi.services:$versions.lsapi"
+}
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/build.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/build.properties
index 46cab836d..fb22229b7 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/build.properties
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/build.properties
@@ -2,6 +2,5 @@ source.. = src/,\
            xtend-gen/
 bin.includes = META-INF/,\
                .,\
-               plugin.properties,\
                about.html
 src.includes = about.html
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/plugin.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/plugin.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index 94abda867..000000000
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.ide/plugin.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-###############################################################################
-# Copyright (c) 2008 itemis AG (http://www.itemis.eu) and others.
-# All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
-# are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
-# which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
-# http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
-#
-###############################################################################
-
-pluginName = Xtext IDE Core 
-providerName = Eclipse Xtext
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index 862acd9b6..1ed2f1b4d 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 Manifest-Version: 1.0
 Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
-Bundle-Name: %pluginName
-Bundle-Localization: plugin
+Bundle-Name: Xtext Utility
 Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.xtext.util
 Bundle-Version: 2.11.0.qualifier
 Maven-Version: 2.11.0-SNAPSHOT
-Bundle-Vendor: %providerName
+Bundle-Vendor: Eclipse Xtext
 Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.8
 Export-Package: org.eclipse.xtext.util;
   uses:="org.eclipse.emf.ecore.resource,
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/build.gradle b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac796b5ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+dependencies {
+	compile "org.eclipse.xtend:org.eclipse.xtend.lib:$versions.xtext"
+    compile "log4j:log4j:$versions.log4j"
+	compile "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.common:$versions.emfCommon"
+	compile "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.ecore:$versions.emfEcore"
+	compile "com.google.inject:guice:$versions.guice"
+}
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/build.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/build.properties
index ab39f02e2..0ca040a19 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/build.properties
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/build.properties
@@ -3,6 +3,5 @@ source.. = src/,\
 output.. = bin/
 bin.includes = META-INF/,\
                .,\
-               plugin.properties,\
                about.html
 src.includes = about.html
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/plugin.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/plugin.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index 564403f84..000000000
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.util/plugin.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-###############################################################################
-# Copyright (c) 2008 itemis AG (http://www.itemis.eu) and others.
-# All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
-# are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
-# which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
-# http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
-#
-###############################################################################
-
-pluginName = Xtext Utility 
-providerName = Eclipse Xtext
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index ded9cad06..120328e19 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@ Manifest-Version: 1.0
 Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
 Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator;singleton:=true
 Bundle-Version: 2.11.0.qualifier
-Bundle-Localization: plugin
 Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.8
-Bundle-Name: %pluginName
-Bundle-Vendor: %providerName
+Bundle-Name: Xtext Generator 2
+Bundle-Vendor: Eclipse Xtext
 Bundle-ActivationPolicy: lazy
 Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.xtext;x-installation:=greedy,
  org.eclipse.xtext.util;x-installation:=greedy,
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/build.gradle b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..445098022
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+dependencies {
+	compile project(':org.eclipse.xtext')
+	compile "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.codegen:$versions.emfEcore"
+	compile "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.codegen.ecore:$versions.emfEcore"
+	compile "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.mwe.utils:$versions.emfMwe"
+	compile "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.mwe2.lib:$versions.emfMwe2"
+	compile "com.ibm.icu:icu4j:$versions.icu"
+}
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/build.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/build.properties
index 0fcb03bba..d17f6b241 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/build.properties
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/build.properties
@@ -4,6 +4,5 @@ source.. = src/,\
 output.. = bin/
 bin.includes = META-INF/,\
                .,\
-               about.html,\
-               plugin.properties
+               about.html
 src.includes = about.html
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/plugin.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/plugin.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index efa72928a..000000000
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator/plugin.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-pluginName = Xtext Generator 2 
-providerName = Eclipse Xtext
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.wizard/build.gradle b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.wizard/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e72780618
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.wizard/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+dependencies {
+	compile project(':org.eclipse.xtext')
+}
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index dd89bcb86..775bc3e62 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 Manifest-Version: 1.0
 Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
-Bundle-Name: %pluginName
+Bundle-Name: Xtext
 Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.xtext;singleton:=true
 Bundle-Version: 2.11.0.qualifier
 Bundle-ClassPath: .
-Bundle-Vendor: %providerName
-Bundle-Localization: plugin
+Bundle-Vendor: Eclipse Xtext
 Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.8
 Export-Package: org.eclipse.xtext,
  org.eclipse.xtext.build;x-friends:="org.eclipse.xtext.ide,org.eclipse.xtext.junit4,org.eclipse.xtend.core.tests",
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/build.gradle b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/build.gradle
index cc909856e..380c30ed4 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/build.gradle
@@ -1,3 +1,23 @@
+sourceSets.main.java.srcDir 'packrat'
+
 dependencies {
-	compile project(':plugins:org.eclipse.xtext.smap')
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+	compile project(':org.eclipse.xtext.util')
+	compile project(':org.eclipse.xtext.smap') // TODO eliminate dependency
+	compile "org.eclipse.xtend:org.eclipse.xtend.lib:$versions.xtext"
+    compile "log4j:log4j:$versions.log4j"
+	compile "org.eclipse.equinox:org.eclipse.equinox.common:$versions.equinoxCommon"
+	compile "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.common:$versions.emfCommon"
+	compile "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.ecore.xmi:$versions.emfEcore"
+	compile "com.google.inject:guice:$versions.guice"
+	compile "org.antlr:antlr-runtime:$versions.antlr"
+	optional "org.eclipse.core:org.eclipse.core.runtime:$versions.eclipseCore"
+	optional "org.eclipse.equinox:org.eclipse.equinox.registry:$versions.equinoxRegistry"
+	optional "org.eclipse.emf:org.eclipse.emf.mwe.utils:$versions.emfMwe"
+	optional "org.eclipse.xpand:org.eclipse.xtend:$versions.xpand"
+	optional "org.eclipse.xpand:org.eclipse.xtend.typesystem.emf:$versions.xpand"
+	optional "org.ow2.asm:asm-commons:$versions.asm"
+}
+
+sourceSets.main.resources {
+	include 'org/**', 'modeling32.png'
+}
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/build.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/build.properties
index 39070892b..e373956c8 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/build.properties
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/build.properties
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ bin.includes = .,\
                schema/,\
                META-INF/,\
                plugin.xml,\
-               plugin.properties,\
                about.ini,\
                about.mappings,\
                about.properties,\
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/plugin.properties b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/plugin.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index 557cb388b..000000000
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/plugin.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-
-# <copyright>
-# </copyright>
-#
-# $Id: plugin.properties,v 1.5 2010/03/10 14:04:27 sefftinge Exp $
-
-# ====================================================================
-# To code developer:
-#   Do NOT change the properties between this line and the
-#   "%%% END OF TRANSLATED PROPERTIES %%%" line.
-#   Make a new property name, append to the end of the file and change
-#   the code to use the new property.
-# ====================================================================
-
-# ====================================================================
-# %%% END OF TRANSLATED PROPERTIES %%%
-# ====================================================================
-
-pluginName = Xtext 
-providerName = Eclipse Xtext
diff --git a/separate-builds/core/build.gradle b/separate-builds/core/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..314ea3f9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/separate-builds/core/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+subprojects {
+	repositories {
+		jcenter()
+		maven {
+			url 'https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots'
+		}
+	}
+	
+	apply plugin: 'java'
+	apply from: "${rootDir}/gradle/versions.gradle"
+	apply from: "${rootDir}/gradle/eclipse-project-layout.gradle"
+	apply from: "${rootDir}/gradle/java-compiler-settings.gradle"
+	
+	group = 'org.eclipse.xtext'
+}
diff --git a/separate-builds/core/gradle/eclipse-project-layout.gradle b/separate-builds/core/gradle/eclipse-project-layout.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a0b27537e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/separate-builds/core/gradle/eclipse-project-layout.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*
+ * Since we use the Eclipse Style layout where sources and resources
+ * live in the same folders, we need to make some adjustments to Gradle'
+ * defaults.
+ */
+
+def isTestProject = name.endsWith('tests')
+
+sourceSets {
+	configure(isTestProject? test : main)  {
+		java.srcDirs = ['src', 'xtend-gen', 'src-gen', 'emf-gen']
+		resources {
+			srcDirs = ['src', 'src-gen', 'emf-gen', '.']
+			exclude '**/*._trace', '**/*.xtendbin', '**/*.xtend'
+			include 'plugin.xml', 'schema/**', 'about.ini', 'about.mappings', 'about.properties', 'about.html'
+		}
+	}
+	configure(isTestProject? main : test)  {
+		java.srcDirs = []
+		resources.srcDirs = []
+	}
+}
+
+jar {
+	metaInf {
+		from 'META-INF'
+	}
+}
diff --git a/separate-builds/core/gradle/java-compiler-settings.gradle b/separate-builds/core/gradle/java-compiler-settings.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c7bb1e089
--- /dev/null
+++ b/separate-builds/core/gradle/java-compiler-settings.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+plugins.withType(JavaBasePlugin) {
+	sourceCompatibility = '1.8'
+}
+
+tasks.withType(JavaCompile) {
+	options.encoding = 'ISO-8859-1'
+}
+
+configurations {
+    optional {
+    	description 'Dependencies required at build time, but not exported into meta data'
+        extendsFrom compile
+    }
+    
+	/*
+	 * Put any unwanted transitive dependencies here, they will be excluded from all projects
+	 */
+    all {
+		exclude group: 'org.antlr', module: 'stringtemplate'
+		exclude module: 'cglib'
+	}
+}
+
+sourceSets.main.compileClasspath += [configurations.optional]
diff --git a/separate-builds/core/gradle/versions.gradle b/separate-builds/core/gradle/versions.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4774b4044
--- /dev/null
+++ b/separate-builds/core/gradle/versions.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+version = '2.11.0-SNAPSHOT'
+
+ext.versions = [
+	'xtext': version,
+	'lsapi': '0.2.0-SNAPSHOT',
+	'log4j': '1.2.16',
+	'equinoxCommon' : '3.6.0',
+	'equinoxRegistry' : '3.5.0.v20100503',
+	'eclipseCore': '3.6.0.v20100505',
+	'emfCommon': '[2.10.1,3.0[',
+	'emfEcore': '[2.10.2,3.0[',
+	'emfMwe': '1.3.20.201605261059',
+	'emfMwe2': '[2.8.3,2.9[',
+	'xpand': '2.0.0',
+	'guice': '3.0',
+	'antlr': '3.2',
+	'asm': '5.0.1',
+	'icu': '52.1'
+]
diff --git a/separate-builds/core/settings.gradle b/separate-builds/core/settings.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ddd1a0c31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/separate-builds/core/settings.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+rootProject.name = 'xtext-core'
+
+[
+	'org.eclipse.xtext',
+	'org.eclipse.xtext.ide',
+	'org.eclipse.xtext.util',
+	'org.eclipse.xtext.smap',
+	'org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.generator',
+	'org.eclipse.xtext.xtext.wizard'
+].each { projectName ->
+	include projectName
+	project(":$projectName").projectDir = file("../../plugins/$projectName")
+}